GM all, This is an outstanding article from Kristan and hits everything you need to know to improve your home networks! Before you throw out your old CAT5e cable though, it is worth noting it can run up to 1 Gbps at 330 feet, but you are pushing it to the limit. Shorten that distance a bit and you should be good. Even at 330 feet the speed will be substantially better than 100 Mbps if you do not make the 1 Gbps. Plain CAT5, as Kristan says, is not going to get you that kind of performance, so out it goes unless you are happy with the 100 Mbps.
As a final thought, don't forget about 1 Gbps network switches. They are very inexpensive and can be used as line amplifiers (repeaters) for long cable runs beyond 330'. Plug it in at the end of a run, then add the next run of CATx from the switch to your destination. Happy networking and thanks a zillion to Kristen. Dang nice piece of work well explained! 73 John K5JS On Sun, Mar 10, 2024 at 9:12 AM gshockxcc via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org> wrote: > Ron, > Xfinity provides a link where you can check if your device is > "approved" for use with Xfinity internet. That just means that they tested > it and confirmed that it works. > > https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/list-of-approved-cable-modems > > Click on "My Device Info" to check specific devices. Some may recommend > Amazon, but I would start with figuring out what you need and can handle, > versus what you want. > > Because you asked about replacing the Xfinity router, I'm making an > assumption that Xfinity has provided you with a combination cable modem and > router. If this is not correct, then you may disagree with my statements > below, they may not make sense, or I may be off base entirely. > > That said... > I learned the hard way. > > 1. With Xfinity, you're not buying a router. You're buying a Cable > Modem. Keep that in mind, because you need two devices, unless you get a > combo cable modem and router, and usually you only get that from Xfinity. > 2. Your cable modem needs to handle as much bandwidth as Xfinity can > provide, unless you don't care and you're buying a modem based on price or > reliability, and not on bandwidth. With a cable modem like Arris, for > example, you get (typically) a single Ethernet output. That connects to > the input of your router, e.g. Asus, Arris, Netgear, etc. > 3. If either the cable modem or router handle lower speeds than what > Xfinity is sending to the house, the lowest speed device will be your > bottleneck, and that will set your max upload/download speed. > 4. If you do like I did, and grab any old CAT5 cable from the cable > modem to the router, you may also limit your speed, because older CAT5 > cables are not rated for 1Gbps like we have available today. Typically, > CAT5 can only handle 100Mbps. > 5. If you take the output from the router, and feed it to a network > switch that provides Ethernet in other rooms throughout the house, the > speeds at those jacks will be limited to whatever each specific Ethernet > cable can handle. > > > In my case, I have older CAT5 everywhere (circa 2011 - 2012). The house > was wired that way. I upgraded to AT&T fiber, which has been fine. But > the CAT5 can't handle that bandwidth. So I'm limited to about 100Mbps at > an Ethernet jack, but my WiFi speed is 450+ Mbps. I can get 1G from the > AT&T modem/router if I directly connect an Ethernet cable to the back of > it. So, if you have high speed internet, when you bring that into the > house and to the back of the modem, the actual speed you will get will > depend on how you want to connect your devices from there. If Xfinity can > only provide 500 Mbps to your location and you get a 1G cable modem and > router, you won't get 1G. Likewise, if you have 1G coming to the house, > and you want to go from the cable modem to a router that feeds Ethernet > jacks throughout the house, the speed you will get will be limited by the > Ethernet cable you run (or that's already installed) and the router you're > using. > > In my case, I have an AT&T fiber modem, which they provide, but I can also > use it as a router. I choose not to, and I connected an ASUS router so > that I can administer the network the way I want. From the ASUS router, I > ran a CAT6e Ethernet cable in my office to my main computer so that I get > 1Gbps (+/-), and I ran another Ethernet from the ASUS router to the network > switch. The house was already wired so my speed to the Network switch is > limited to about 100+Mbps, even though the switch itself can handle more, > the CAT5 cable coming to it is the bottleneck, like I mentioned before. > But this is still plenty fast enough for streaming video (Roku, etc). Most > of the remaining devices are on the WiFi from my office router. Because of > obstructions in the house, I have a second router that is connected via the > same slow speed Ethernet jack I mentioned before. The second router itself > can handle 1Gbps also, but the WiFi is only as fast as the Ethernet feeding > the router, so I typically get about the same 100+ Mbps from that one. > But, for my needs, I'm mostly using it to run WiFi cameras, iPads, Laptops, > etc. So I don't need the bandwidth, and I wouldn't spend the money on a > highspeed router for that purpose. Although, I'm using one just because I > happen to have it. I didn't buy it because I needed the bandwidth for > those devices. I probably could have used WiFi repeaters instead, but with > the angles in my house, I would need several. So I just used a spare modem > I happen to have and stuck with the slow CAT5 cable that is already in the > house. > > A note on cables, too. There's CAT5, CAT5e, CAT6, CAT6e, and CAT6A. > CAT6e is an enhanced version of CAT6, but there's no actual standard for it > in the Telecommunications Industry Association. But, it can handle speeds > up to 1Gbps. When you get ready to start connecting devices, or however > you want to set up your network, you'll need to be aware of each piece in > the chain, because that could be your bandwidth-limiting connection. > > Probably way more than you wanted to know, but details matter and I > thought I would try and spare you the same aggravation I went through if > you go into this not knowing the details above. > > Hope it helps. > > -Kristan > KI5VVT > Sent with Proton Mail <https://proton.me/> secure email. > > On Saturday, March 9th, 2024 at 4:06 PM, ron.litt--- via BVARC < > bvarc@bvarc.org> wrote: > > Anyone recommend an internet router to replace the Xfinity router? > > > > Regards, > > > > Ron Litt > > 281-961-4570 > > ron.l...@gmail.com > > > > > ________________________________________________ > Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club > > BVARC mailing list > BVARC@bvarc.org > http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org > Publicly available archives are available here: > https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/ >
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